The Big Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Silver Charm]

Hard to get too excited about these Zenyatta walkovers.

Grand looking animal has been more gingerly handled than the Bubble Boy.

Will trounce this group of non-next out winners and I may fall asleep before the race is even run.

Or even worse, start watching preseason football which will really put me asleep

[P-Dub]

Silver Charm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hard to get too excited about these Zenyatta
> walkovers.
>
> Grand looking animal has been more gingerly
> handled than the Bubble Boy.
>
> Will trounce this group of non-next out winners
> and I may fall asleep before the race is even run.
>
>
> Or even worse, start watching preseason football
> which will really put me asleep

As for falling asleep, thats what a lot of us do after reading 20 posts a day from you. You are the Seinfeld of this room, a lot of nothing.

There are a lot of fans that really don\'t care what you think. Check that, most fans don\'t care what you think about her. The thousands of fans that showed up to watch her don\'t care either. The standing room only paddock crowd doesn\'t care. This mare excites a lot of people, and brings them out to the track.

You and others have posted AD NAUSEUM about her schedule. You all are entitled to your opinion. And yes, I would like to see her races be a bit more challenging than running against the same horses that she keeps on defeating. I have stated that on this forum several times. And as of today, Rachel is a slam dunk HOY.  She is nothing short of spectacular and is one for the ages. Be that as it may, Zenyatta is undefeated, she has won outside of California, defeated a division champion in Ginger Punch - on dirt, out of state - and is a BC and eclipse award winning horse. Pretty impressive anyway you slice it.

If there comes a day for her to lose a race, I\'m sure we\'ll have 1,000 posts, 500 written by you, telling us all how she is nothing but a fraud. Its too bad that instead of yet another cynical post you just can\'t appreciate her talents.

And for all you Smith bashers, at least he doesn\'t wag his finger at the crowd and act like an idiot like Borel does. Borel wags his finger, points at her, raises his hands to the sky, and generally yucks it up from the 1/16 pole until she\'s unsaddled. All class. Now obviously, today wasn\'t a race where you celebrate at the 1/16 pole.  But show me a race where Smith acts like a schoolkid that just got his first feel-up. Doesn\'t happen.

You must be a lot of fun to hang around. Geez, what a buzzkill.

[Silver Charm]

P-Dub thanks.

I fell asleep, missed the race, and did not know if she had won. I will catch the replay in four to six weeks.

even if I do not see yesterdays race.........

[congaree1]

Great post P-Dub<

I\'m willing to bet Silver Charm is your average $2 better. He always feels the need to vent, about positive things.

[Rick B.]

P-Dub Wrote:
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> And for all you Smith bashers

Interesting pre-emptive strike.

I\'m neutral on Smith. Certainly seems to have a tendency to go wide, but he wins enough with that move that I believe it offsets the number of times he might have gone inside only to get jammed up waiting for room. Six of one kind, half-dozen of another, from where I sit.

But he sure did make what should have been a rather boring affair pretty interesting yesterday, didn\'t he? Won by a short head, about a foot at ~35 mph -- what\'s that, about 2/100ths of a second? That no ordinary clock in Smith\'s head.

[basket777]

$180,000.00  more in the bank

her lifetime earnings are?

who would want to own this cash cow.   great job of keeping the ball rolling.

[Dana666]

You said it all P-Dub. . .if someone can find a way to knock anything about Zenyatta, they should find another hobby! She\'s simply amazing. I do wish the Breeder\'s Cup were hosted on a dirt track so she could face Rachel, but such is life. I say enjoy every moment of both super stars b/c they don\'t come around too often!

[jimbo66]

Oh boy, hard to believe a nose win over slow plodders is generating so much gushing for Zenyatta.

P-Dub and other west coast biased posters,

She is a very nice filly.  She has a lot of heart and is very consistent.  She deserves credit for digging down and pulling out another win.  This is not the first time she has looked beaten and gotten up late.  Kudos to her.  

But she is not brilliant and not spectacular and not worth mentioning in the same breath as Rachel or Ruffian or other truly great fillies.  She is just not.  All the talk and support from the left coasters can roll in, but would anybody even take 5-1 on this filly in a match race on dirt with RAchel?  Ok, forget about a match race, make it a race with 7 other fillies including a speed horse or two to keep Rachel busy on the front end?  Any takers for Zenyatta?

Yesterday\'s race actually makes me take back some of my criticism of Shirreffs and the connections.  They may know she just isn\'t that good and they need to manage her schedule like this.  She wins by a nose over those horses yesterday at equal weights?  Maybe they should retire her now and keep the record intact.  I think Shirreffs knows what he has and that is why he won\'t leave California and wants to race in races like the Clement Hirsch.  And Jess Jackson knows what he has, which is why Rachel has raced in the Preakness and Haskell and now contemplates the Woodward, Travers or other monster races.

[covelj70]

Jimbo,

I said the exact same thing about Sherrifs last night to the people I was watching the race with.

He\'s no dummy.  She\'s really good but not in the same league as RA and if they face one another, she would get embarrased and ruin the image they have built up for her.

I am a big fan of hers.  Whatever generates more interest for the game, I am a big fan of and clearly she\'s a great great filly but evening mentioning her in the same breath as RA is silly and her connections understand this which is why they have plotted the course they have plotted which will clearly exclude RA.

[Cartman]

I\'m pretty sure there isn\'t another filly in North America that could have won that race with her trip. She ran her last 5/16ths in 28.48, part of which was spent swinging out wide because of all her momentum on the turn. This is a very special filly and I have to repsectfully say that IMO anyone that can\'t see that doesn\'t know much about measuring a horse\'s ability. Sure, with her style she would be extremely vulnerable on dirt, but she\'s still a freak. I\'d love to see her on turf because I think she\'d be a freak on that surface too.

[Frank]

Cartman,
I agree with your Zenyatta race analysis. It was a terrible setup for her without any pace and her last 5/16\'s was extremely fast. This is a spectacular mare without any reservations or conditions.
Frank

[Dana666]

Is this thread even worth pursuing??? Do you buy the freaking T-G sheets??? She\'s run 7 negative numbers in the last two years and five in a row (all in route races)!  I\'d wager there is not another horse in the country including the great Rachel who\'s done that! 12 for 12, 6 grade I\'s, beat the Champion last year (Ginger Punch -on dirt by 7 lengths). No horse EVER looks brillant on plastic tracks! If she ran on dirt, she\'d run even faster. West Coast Bias??? What the hell are you smoking? If there was a fair pace in the race, she and Rachel would likely put on a tremendous show.

[bellsbendboy]

Jimbo

Once again your disdain for Zenyatta or perhaps left coast racing is clouding your judgement and leading to untruths in your posts.

First, she gave weight to the runnerup, about a point or so on the TG scale.

Second, she has left California and her explosion in the Apple Blossom off a three month layoff is one of the all-time fastest races run by a filly or mare and she had plenty more to give.  Additionally, she shipped to Churchill this May but scratched because of the lousy surface.  

The Hirsch has been run for forty years (39) and now \"Z\" is only the second mare to win it twice. (Azeri)

Lastly, a case can be made that Zenyatta is better on dirt and as good as Rachel is she would have her hands full with this five year old beast.  \"Z\" was clocked at forty miles an hour at the finish line yesterday and would roll past Rachel at eight or nine furlongs given a decent surface and honest pace. BBB

[Dana666]

She could very well be better on dirt! That Apple Blossom race was won w/her cantering at the end, and the last 1/16th in about 6 seconds! I would honestly say she\'s one of perhaps the 10 greatest race horses of all time (including all sexes). Honestly, anyone who can watch her and not be completely blown away really should take up craps or slot machines or something b/c this is the wrong game for you. I think Rachel could be as great as Zen, but in my mind she isn\'t yet. Hell, I\'d like to see her beat Quality Road. You must remember for all the talk about Zen\'s weak foes, the crop of 3 year old\'s Rachel decimated are pathetic.The Haskell was like a 50k claiming race. C\'mom, just be fair, guys.

[TGJB]

Everybody calm down.

First of all, saying Zenyatta doesn\'t compare to Rachel (and she doesn\'t) is like saying Pujols isn\'t Babe Ruth-- big deal, who is. Doesn\'t mean Pujols ain\'t great.

Whether you go by ability (figures) or accomplishment, Rachel is in territory all her own, arguably ever. That\'s no reflection on Zenyatta.

The MANAGEMENT of Zenyatta is another matter, and we can have a negative opinion of that without having one of the mare.